SKID ROW ditches JOHNNY SOLINGER replaces him with TONY HARNELL!

[Geoff 255]

Yeah, not sure what to make of it. I think it's good, but I know for sure that Harnell can do better than that. I can only agree that he just doesn't sound fully invested; good as it is anyway.

 

And Nightrain, I assume you've not heard much of Harnell then, if you've never heard the raspier side to his voice? Try the TNT album 'Transistor,' the Westworld albums and even Starbreaker for a raspy touch and much more variation than the high pitch. In fact, basically anything he's done after the 'Intuition' album has this sort of variety. Check some of it out, my man.

[Mullethead 0]

Well, here's Mr. Harnell's first attempt at classic Skid Row.

 

http://www.skidrow.com/media/music/SkidRow_18_and_Life.mp3

I don't mind it at all but as someone else said, lets hear the new material. I'm a bit more optimistic though.

[AlphaMale 353]

It's all about the music now. What will the new music be like?

[JLPRocks 1]

"Going through the motions"....."tribute".......really?.......no way. I'd love to hear tribute bands sound as proficient as Harnell on this. I'm not even the biggest Harnell fan and can say that this is more than adequate to carry the torch. I honestly don't see the 'going through the motions'.....the range....the tone....all of that was present. What did you expect him to be doing...spitting out the words with fire?! lol

 

Either way....I agree with AM that I'm more interested in hearing new material, but this was pretty damn good.

[gener8tr 10]

 

Sounds okay but technically I have no doubt in Harnell so probably this ain't gonna be bad at all. I'm surprised Harnell also has a raspy touch to his vocal, I thought he's only about high pitch

 

I mean he does an admirable job. But it lacks soul. Missing something. Emotion like Dan said.

 

 

It's missing 1989... when we were all 26 years younger than we are today.

 

Paul McCartney still sings SHE'S LOVE YOU, but it doesn't resonate with my mother like it did in 1963.

 

Not Harnell's fault... it's Father Time's.

[Glen 259]

If I want to listen to this song I'll listen to the original which is far better.

 

That is the issue.......

[Nightrain 6]

well yeah but lots of people still want to see them live with a proper singer and the band don't want Bach for now and also Bach usually sucks live even in his glorious days so I think Harnell will be okay

[Nightrain 6]

Yeah, not sure what to make of it. I think it's good, but I know for sure that Harnell can do better than that. I can only agree that he just doesn't sound fully invested; good as it is anyway.

 

And Nightrain, I assume you've not heard much of Harnell then, if you've never heard the raspier side to his voice? Try the TNT album 'Transistor,' the Westworld albums and even Starbreaker for a raspy touch and much more variation than the high pitch. In fact, basically anything he's done after the 'Intuition' album has this sort of variety. Check some of it out, my man.

 

Yeah I admit I don't like Transistor that much and also Westworld and Starbreaker received probably 1 spin every year so Harnell in my mind is basically 'Tell No Tales' and 'Intuition' haha but good for him, I think he'll be okay doin' Skid Row's songs live

[KarpetRydOFunk 252]

well yeah but lots of people still want to see them live with a proper singer and the band don't want Bach for now and also Bach usually sucks live even in his glorious days so I think Harnell will be okay

Seabass doesn't suck live. Unless you mean his attitude, because, yeah, he certainly is a prick.

[Gibbo 2]

The problem facing Harnell is that he's - potentially - going to be singing songs that resonate with a LOT of people. You hear 'Youth Gone Wild', '18 And Life' or 'Monkey Business', and you expect to hear Bach's voice (the point Glen was making.)

 

Any band that is so closely associated with one singer is going to struggle if they replace him/her, regardless of how good any subsequent release might be. Maiden and Priest both went back to the singer most people know and love; Van Halen may have had bigger-selling albums with Hagar, but they lost a lot of fans when Roth left; the same with Sabbath (who have now come full-circle back to Ozzy.)

 

Perhaps Bolan, Sabo and co. might be better off going out under a new name? It worked for Thin Lizzy/Black Star Riders?

[Geoff 255]

"Going through the motions"....."tribute".......really?.......no way. I'd love to hear tribute bands sound as proficient as Harnell on this. I'm not even the biggest Harnell fan and can say that this is more than adequate to carry the torch. I honestly don't see the 'going through the motions'.....the range....the tone....all of that was present. What did you expect him to be doing...spitting out the words with fire?! lol

 

Either way....I agree with AM that I'm more interested in hearing new material, but this was pretty damn good.

 

Just for the sake of comparison, if you spin 'Perfectly' by TNT tonight, from their 'My Religion' album and compare the two vocal dliveries - that is the point I'm making. Harnell has always been a very passionate singer and brings out every vocal/lyric hook possible.

 

The weird thing about this Skid Row rendition of this classic song is that he skips over a lot of the vocal hooks that, for me, help make the original such a classic. I don't want him to copy Bach (and let's be honest, no human on the planet could top Bach's performance on the debut), but I know Harnell's work well, and I know he has a lot better than this in him.

[Dark 0]

I've only heard the first two albums and i've not heard anything by TNT so maybe i've got a more neutral ear for it but it sounds good to me. Harnell enunciates a bit too clearly to be singing a Skid Row tune but at the very end his tone is not too dissimilar to Bach's and i think he nails the wailing at the end. I've got a load of TNT stuff, i should queue it up.

[Glen 259]

Bach was Skid Row imo.

 

And for the record he certainly did not suck live......at least not on the Slave tour ;-)

[DaHun72 8]

Harnell is a great singer, live and in the studio. I do however think they picked one of the easier songs for him to sing but really who cares. It's all about the new material.

As Eddie Trunk pointed out Harnell is likely to leave once he gets sick of playing gigs in front of 40-50 people. Or maybe sooner once he's heard the demos of the new songs

[Geoff 255]

It will be interesting to see if it ever gets to recording stage. If he just says, 'Sure, I'll sing your terrible songs.' Or if, hopefully, he actually says, 'Dudes, these songs are just really, really shit. How about we do this, change that etc?' It'd be good to actually see him contribute to, or the way they are these days, just straight up write the songs for them these days.

[Captain Howdy 87]

That version of 18 & Life just sounded like him singing over the original backing track with the mix not being quite the same, so that may be why his vocals dont quite do the song justice.

That said, I think his version is a lot weaker than say the version Erik Gronwall did on his debut album.

[Dead Planet 163]

You can change any number of band members in any band you can think of and the bottom line for me, is the final musical product worth a damn....so I will wait until there is new music to judge before coming to any conclusions about this new version of Skid Row....

[T-BONE 4]

 

 

Does anybody have the Solinger demos? The Metal madman played some on his show Wednesday, and they kicked some ass.

 

Would love to hear the rest of them. I thought I had a CDR of them at one time but damn if I can find it in the archives.

 

I have to do some digging, bit I think I have a 5 or 6 song EP (MP3's) of his somewhere, possibly 2 of them...

 

 

That would be awesome!! Much appreciated!!

 

 

All I have is the Solinger and Solinger II CD's I guess.... I thought for sure I had some demos.

 

 

 

Oddly enough... Johnny "DID" have a slight Bach style growl back in the day

 

[Captain Howdy 87]

 

well yeah but lots of people still want to see them live with a proper singer and the band don't want Bach for now and also Bach usually sucks live even in his glorious days so I think Harnell will be okay

Seabass doesn't suck live. Unless you mean his attitude, because, yeah, he certainly is a prick.

 

I saw Bach last year and he was fucking brilliant. A total ball of energy and still sings with all the power of his glory days.

[Geoff 255]

 

 

well yeah but lots of people still want to see them live with a proper singer and the band don't want Bach for now and also Bach usually sucks live even in his glorious days so I think Harnell will be okay

Seabass doesn't suck live. Unless you mean his attitude, because, yeah, he certainly is a prick.

 

I saw Bach last year and he was fucking brilliant. A total ball of energy and still sings with all the power of his glory days.

 

 

That surprises me as that does definitely not come through on his recent albums.

[Captain Howdy 87]

Yeah, but the bulk of his set is classic Skid Row songs. There is a very different vibe when he does his solo stuff.

[T-BONE 4]

If anybody wants MP3's of the Solinger I and II CD's, PM me... I know they're hard to find and can go for some cha-ching on evilbay

[AlphaMale 353]

If anybody wants MP3's of the Solinger I and II CD's, PM me... I know they're hard to find and can go for some cha-ching on evilbay

 

I forgot I wanted these! Offer still stand?